'Nazi' curse prompts suspension of Mac TA captain

Guy Pnini apologetic over outburst against Hapoel TA player, but club still rescinds captaincy, in addition to suspension, fine.

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Guy Pnini 370.
(photo credit:Adi Avishai)

Maccabi Tel Aviv suspended Guy Pnini until further notice and stripped him of
the captaincy on Monday night after he was caught on camera calling Hapoel Tel
Aviv player Jonathan Skjoldebrand a Nazi, among other profanities.

The
incident was captured during a trash-talk exchange in Sunday’s derby at Nokia
Arena, with Pnini also telling Skjoldebrand that he hopes he gets cancer and
that his father will die.

Pnini, who was named Maccabi’s captain prior to
the season, apologized for his behavior, but Maccabi’s management still decided
to hand down a NIS 100,000 fine, as well as suspend him and strip him of the
captaincy.

“After hearing what the player had to say and his honest
apology, the club’s management cannot accept his behavior. His status as a
player and a captain, who represents the club’s values, demands him to display
added restraint and tolerance,” a Maccabi statement read.

Hapoel
approached the Israel Basketball Association earlier in the day to file a
complaint regarding Pnini’s conduct and he is set to also receive a ban by the
league’s disciplinary court.

“I would like to apologize from the bottom
of my heart for the things I said during the derby,” Pnini said. “I apologize to
Jonathan and his family and to Maccabi Tel Aviv, my teammates and any sports fan
who was offended by what I said.

“I would also like to apologize to my
family who are Holocaust survivors. I’m ashamed of myself and of the way I
acted.”

Meanwhile, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Eilat both continued their
recent hot streak on Monday, improving to 6-2 in the BSL.

Haifa beat Bnei
Herzliya 91-86, claiming its fourth straight win.

The Greens raced into
an early lead, taking a nine-point gap (22-13) into the second
period.

Alex Chubrevich’s dunk with three minutes to play in the first
half took Haifa’s margin to 20 points (42-22), but Herzliya bounced back,
closing to within 12 points (45-33) by the break.

Niv Berkowitz’s basket
midway through the third quarter brought the visitors within four points (55-51)
and the deficit was just a single point after Ben Rice’s three-point play with
two minutes remaining in the game.

However, the visitors could not
complete the comeback and fell to their fourth straight loss.

“They made
a lot of shots in the second half as we didn’t defend as well,” was how Haifa
coach Brad Greenberg explained Herzliya’s fight back. “We lost a little momentum
at the end of the first half and to their credit they capitalized on that and it
went down to the wire.”